Scripting syntax help - replace ampersand

Configuration
1

Hey, I’ve got a script that is outputting a message "{{ tonights_dinner.events[0].summary }}". Since I’m trying to get Alexa Media Player to speak that message, though, it has problems if it contains an ampersand. So whenever I have the string " & " I want to replace it with " and ". Which seems like it should be "{{ tonights_dinner.events[0].summary | replace(' & ', ' and ') }}" but something in the yaml really doesn’t like the ampersand, and I can’t figure out how to escape it. It’s working just fine if it doesn’t have an ampersand.

2

Try it like this:

message: >
  {{ tonights_dinner.events[0].summary | replace(' "&" ', ' and ') }}
3

Does it matter that this is inside a script? I’m getting a syntax error on the second line of your code: “missed comma between flow collection entries (710:38)” where line 710 is {{ tonights_dinner.events[0].summary | replace(' "&" ', ' and ') }}

4

Maybe it will help if I include more of my code. Here’s the whole script:

dinner_calendar:
  mode: restart
  sequence:
    - service: alexa_media.update_last_called
    - delay: 00:00:01
    - service: calendar.list_events
      data:
        start_date_time: "{{ today_at().strftime('%Y-%m-%d %H:%M') }}"
        duration:
          hours: 24
      target:
        entity_id: calendar.dinner
      response_variable: tonights_dinner
    - if:
      - alias: "there is nothing scheduled"
        condition: template
        value_template: "{{ tonights_dinner.events|count == 0 }}"
      then:
        - service: notify.alexa_media
          data_template:
            message: "Sorry, tonight's dinner is not in the calendar."
            title: "Dinner"
            target: '{{ states.sensor.last_alexa.state }}'
            data:
              type: tts
      else:
        - service: notify.alexa_media
          data_template:
            message: "{{ tonights_dinner.events[0].summary }}"
            title: "Dinner"
            target: '{{ states.sensor.last_alexa.state }}'
            data:
              type: tts

It’s probably more code than you need, but I’m trying to replace that last message line.

5

Works for me:

Screenshot 2023-10-04 at 07-19-03 Developer Tools – Home Assistant
Screenshot 2023-10-04 at 07-19-03 Developer Tools – Home Assistant1186×360 26.3 KB

6

Okay, with your replacement, the code looks like this:

dinner_calendar:
  mode: restart
  sequence:
    - service: alexa_media.update_last_called
    - delay: 00:00:01
    - service: calendar.list_events
      data:
        start_date_time: "{{ today_at().strftime('%Y-%m-%d %H:%M') }}"
        duration:
          hours: 24
      target:
        entity_id: calendar.dinner
      response_variable: tonights_dinner
    - if:
      - alias: "there is nothing scheduled"
        condition: template
        value_template: "{{ tonights_dinner.events|count == 0 }}"
      then:
        - service: notify.alexa_media
          data_template:
            message: "Sorry, tonight's dinner is not in the calendar."
            title: "Dinner"
            target: '{{ states.sensor.last_alexa.state }}'
            data:
              type: tts
      else:
        - service: notify.alexa_media
          data_template:
            message: >
              {{ tonights_dinner.events[0].summary|replace('&', 'and' }}
            title: "Dinner"
            target: '{{ states.sensor.last_alexa.state }}'
            data:
              type: tts

While this appears to validate properly, when I restart my configuration, I get the following error in the log file:

Script with object id ‘dinner_calendar’ could not be validated and has been disabled: template value should be a string for dictionary value @ data[‘sequence’][3][‘else’][0][‘data_template’]. Got {‘message’: “{{ tonights_dinner.events[0].summary|replace(’&’, ‘and’ }}\n”, ‘title’: ‘Dinner’, ‘target’: ‘{{ states.sensor.last_alexa.state }}’, ‘data’: {‘type’: ‘tts’}}

Thanks for helping. Most of my knowledge is in JavaScript and PHP, and Jinja is different enough that it’s like swimming upstream.

7

Dang it, I was missing a closing parenth. I see it now. Thanks, it works!

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